No Fool
by wheresmymind
Summary: Ginny is feeling like a fool for having a relationship with Draco Malfoy.


Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Ginny Weasley had never thought of herself as a stupid girl. Growing up with six brothers was a blessing to her, since it made her a better judge of character when it came to men. This was one reason she was positive that befriending Blaise Zabini was a good idea. She also used this logic to convince herself that secretly dating Draco Malfoy was not the worst mistake of her life.

Of course, she thought she was losing her mind the first time they had snogged each other senseless in an empty hallway in her fourth year. From that moment, their relationship continued in secrecy. No one knew of it except for Blaise and, oddly enough, Severus Snape.

Ginny never told anyone of her somewhat friendship with the Potions Master. She couldn't explain it, but she had always trusted him, regardless of what horrible things she had heard about him from Ron, Harry and Hermoine. She couldn't help it if Snape gained some twisted pleasure from tormenting the three of them. He had never shown any sort of distaste towards her, something that she never understood but accepted it and showed him respect like she would towards any other professor. Once he had discovered her affair with his favorite student it had only cemented her trust for him since he never breathed a word of it to anyone.

It was at the very end of her fifth year that she actually turned to Snape for guidance, however unplanned it was. She was leaving an empty classroom down by the dungeons, near tears from her frustration. Draco had been acting odd all year and she couldn't figure out why. At times like these, when they would meet and he would act like a complete prick over something he refused to tell her she couldn't help but let her mind wander to Harry's suspicions about Draco being a Death Eater. She would think about all the nights they had spent together after loosing themselves in eachother and focus her memory solely on his left arm. It was unmarked, yet he would let out a hiss of pain if her fingers strayed anywhere near it.

Hearing footsteps coming closer, Ginny shook herself from her memories and looked ahead, seeing the familiar black robes which caused her to try to hold back her tears as best as she could.

"Miss Weasley," Snape murmed in acknowledgment. "Being near the dungeons this late could cause people to wonder." His remark clearly carried a warning that students would be on their way down soon.

He continued to walk passed her, and she bit on her lip.

"Professor!" She called, wanting to sound stronger than she was feeling, and knowing she failed as the word was choked in a near sob.

Snape stopped and turned around, raising an eyebrow at her but saying nothing.

"Professor, am I a fool?" She asked him in a desperate voice, hating how pathetic she knew she sounded. She had been positive her entire life she was no fool, regarldess of her first year. She had put that behind her, knowing it was not her fault. It was amazing to her that a sixteen year old boy could make her question her intelligence when the soul of the darkest wizard hadn't fazed her. "Am I? Have I been wrong about him? What I'm doing...is it the most idiotic thing I've ever done?"

Snape knew she wanted the truth. She did not want to be coddled and told that what she was doing was perfectly alright. He also knew that he was the only one she trusted enough to give her that truth.

He walked towards her so that he was standing right in front of her. She looked up at him with her big brown eyes, tears glazing them but never falling.

"Miss Weasley, if you remember nothing else from what I've told you from the five years you've been at Hogwarts remember this," he started softly, slowly, making sure she heard every word. "You are no fool."

Once he finished talking, he turned on his heel and walked away from her. He didn't want to look into her eyes and see the disbelief in there. Surely she knew he was being honest, but that didn't mean she had to believe him.

Ginny took a deep breath, banishing all thoughts of how Draco had acted towards her tonight. About how he had drawn away from her, even though he was the one that wanted to meet tonight. Snape's words calmed her soul, and the tears were gone from her eyes. He was right. She was being ridiculous. Just because Draco had been acting off all year didn't mean she was wrong about him. If anything, it had to do with his father being shut away in Azkaban. She shook her head a little as she started walking out of the dungeons and back to her dormitory. Draco's problem was that he wasn't use to talking about his feelings. Even with her, he was gaurded on some subjects. This was no different.

'It has to be about his father,' she thought to herself, wishing he was a little more open about things that had bothered him. If he could open up to Moaning Myrtle like Harry claimed, then why not to her?

"You just wouldn't understand" He had told her when she went to visit him in the Hospital Wing the night Harry had almost cut him to pieces. She glared at him a little at the time, wanting to know what had upset him so much.

Now, however, she supposed she really just wouldn't understand. She couldn't see herself ever feeling sorry for his father, which is why Draco must not be telling her how he was feeling about it this year.

"Just his father" she mumbled to herself before she said the password to enter the common room.

It was a rude awakening for her when Ron and Hermoine found her hours later, forcing her to drink the rest of Harry's Liquid Luck, explaining rapidly what Harry had told them before he left with Dumbledore.

***  
>A weary sigh escaped Snape's lips as soon as he entered his home on Spinner's End. He looked around the front hallway for a moment, thinking of the events a few days ago.<p>

Killing Albus, fleeing with Draco and reporting what had happened to the Dark Lord all rushed through his mind. The two main points that stuck in his mind was how Draco had looked at him right before they left the grounds of Hogwarts.

"She'll never understand." Draco murmered, to himself or to him, Snape could not be sure.

Snape closed his eyes at this memory, wishing there was some way, for Draco's sake, that she would understand. Part of him felt guilty himself, thinking of how betrayed and utterly stupid the girl must be feeling now.

The second moment that would always stick in his mind when he thought back on that night was his encounter with Ginny Weasley. He felt worse about how she was feeling at the moment, no thanks to himself and Draco. When she had asked him if she was a fool, she looked horrified and embarassed about the idea, as if making a mistake was the worst thing she could do.

It was funny, really, if he thought about it. She would be with her family, thinking she had made the biggest, the most inexcusable mistake of her life when really, she hadn't made one at all.

Since Draco never would, Snape realized he had to make sure that Ginny knew she was not wrong. He wouldn't let her think that she was a stupid little girl for one more moment. It wasn't for his sake; he had grown accustomed to people thinking the worst of him. No, it was for Draco's. If he could make Ginny see that being with Draco wasn't a mistake, then maybe there would be hope for saving the boy after all.

He could only think of one way to do it, and he hoped that it would work.

***  
>Ginny was tired.<p>

After spending so much time in St. Mungo's, Bill was finally released home. It had been multiple days and nights of the entire Weasley clan spending every moment in his room. Most of them would fall asleep, but Ginny never could.

Everytime she closed her eyes, she would see the battle all over again. She would see Dumbledore's body lying at the bottom of the tower. She would see Snape and Drac- no, Malfoy- laughing at her stupiditiy.

The last image was made up in her mind, but it was the worst for her to see. So instead, she stayed awake, staring at Bill's damaged face and wishing she hadn't been so bloody stupid.

Harry was right, again. Everyone needed to learn that he was always right. In the end, he was right about Snape and of course, this year, he was right about Malfoy.

She vowed to herself on the last night at St. Mungo's to love Harry the way he loved her. She knew it was wrong all along to be seeing Draco when she was with Michael and Dean and Harry, but at the time she couldn't help it. Now, it was her biggest mistake. Her biggest regret.

It didn't matter to her that her and Harry were unoffical now because he wanted to protect her- a thought that still made her roll her eyes- she would wait for him. She would be there for him when he triumphed and she would fix all her wrongs by being with him.

Once she got back to The Burrow, she felt relief over her entire body. Coming home was what she needed. A reminder to her of what was really important- family.

As her mother went into the kitchen to make everyone a late breakfast, her father went off the The Ministry, having missed work so much with Bill's condition. Fred and George decided to stay at The Burrow for a few days, going up to their room and Ron decided to help his mother in the kitchen as a way of clearing his head.

Ginny, wanting nothing more than a bit of a nap before the food was ready, rushed up to her room as well. She opened her door, her eyes nearly buldging out of her head as she looked inside.

Her trunk was already there, but that wasn't what had surprised her.

It was the Tawny owl that was perched on top of it, a letter clasped in it's talons.

Ginny had never seen this owl before, which set her nerves on edge right away. For a second, she was about to call for Fred and George. However, she realized she was being silly. It was just an owl. Probably a sympathy letter from one of her friends about Bill.

'They must have used an owl from the post office,' she thought to herself as she approached it.

The owl was eyeing her in a way that reminded Ginny of Snape, looking down his nose at all the students he taught. It even had the same black eyes as he did. She shook her head muttering "Get a grip," before snatching the letter from it's talon, and it took flight almost as soon as she had taken the letter.

Opening it, her eyes filled up with tears as she scanned the message. Placing her hand over her mouth, she sat on her bed as the tears fell onto the letter. It was the same cramped writing she had seen hundreds of times on her papers ever since she started at Hogwarts. After a moment, she folded it back up, but the words repeated in her head for the rest of the summer:

You are no fool. 


End file.
